Metropolitan Police: Epic Fail

sdanseo

Just looking at Sky coverage of student protests in London and have to say it's only making me prouder of the way AGS handled the protests here.

For those not following it, basically students have occupied the COnservative Party HQ in London, they're on the roof hanging banners, forcing their way in the doors, wrecking the place and starting fires etc too. Students are chanting the same chants as they did here, verbatim :rolleyes: but are also throwing fire extinguishers off the roof

Met are making an absolute hames of it. Tiny shields, very few officers, no mounted unit, lack of drawn batons, seemingly only 6 officers at the front of the Conservative HQ building before it all kicked off...list is endless. If anything you'd think they'd have watched what happened here and how the Gardaí handled it (or maybe that only works the other way round to them).

Sky News

Sierra Oscar

The Met are lucky they didn't loose one of their officers today. That fire extinguisher thrown from a height of around eight floors just missed a group of officers.

source

A damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Those officers were very lucky by all accounts, hopefully we don't see any injuries from todays student riots in London. Good luck to all those on duty.

petergfiffin

Watched a very interesting documentary a few months back about how the Met train for and handle riots and I remember seeing a senior officer in the Met basically saying that due in part to arrogance the Met were unwilling to look to the experience of the PSNI about how to handle riots and how the PSNI are perhaps the experts in handling riots (certainly in the UK, if not Europe), wish I could remember the name of the documentary now!!!

Looking at the pictures of the Tory HQ I can't help but think that's how the Dept of Finance would have looked if AGS hadn't handled it so well and anybody who says "Oh that wouldn't have happened if they got in" is talking rubbish!!!

amacachi

All those people saying that a Garda presence at the student protests here last week was the provocation have been proven right.:rolleyes:

I really don't know what the Met were at, today was a day to just let the riot police have free rein. I'm hoping the person who threw the fire extinguisher will be charged with attempted murder.

TheVoodoo

http://img.rasset.ie/0003e6ec-970.jpg
< From
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1110/feesbritain_gallery.html



Actually cannot believe the 4th picture. Hopefully they can somehow identify the ones involved. I fail to see what that kind of thuggery can achieve, whatever about protesting in the first place, but singling out a single police officer and cornering him is crazy.

MagicSean

Terrible policing. Whatever about the original plan, I can't understand the delay in bringing in support. apparently they have photographed everyone on the way out and compared it all the cctv to arrest the worst offendors. I wonder would this kind of photgraphing hold up in court.

Burnt

The Forward intellengce teams/officers are becoming common sight in
London in the past few years; at any big gathering where there might
be a change of agro. You'll spot them up on buildings with long lenses
or sometimes on street level, with some sort of sholder attachment
from lights and camera. So they must be of some effect.

They have got into abit of trouble on occasion for breach of civil rights
and are abit of a controversial issue. Durning a march/demo/riot a few
years back people were only let out of the "kettle" apon submitting to
be photographed by FITs and identified themsleves. They were also
repremanded for retaining pictures of people who have not committed
offenses and alledged harassment of the press.

k_mac

k_mac wrote: »

Whatever about the original plan, I can't understand the delay in bringing in support.

Yeah I'm not getting that, either, to be honest. I always looked at the UK Police as being relatively tough guys who didn't take crap.

I was under the impression that if such a situation arose, there'd be Police everywhere putting manners on people.


Really don't understand the riot mentality in the first place, though. Not only are the government gonna make cuts anyway, but now they have a massive bill for fixing up their officers and buildings. Putting further strain on the government is hardly gonna fix anything.

These people attend third level education; they should understand that fairly basic premise.

Poccington

TheVoodoo wrote: »

http://img.rasset.ie/0003e6ec-970.jpg
< From
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1110/feesbritain_gallery.html



Actually cannot believe the 4th picture. Hopefully they can somehow identify the ones involved. I fail to see what that kind of thuggery can achieve, whatever about protesting in the first place, but singling out a single police officer and cornering him is crazy.

In all seriousness, that officers life was in real danger once he was cornered like that. Had he ended up on the ground, he was ****ed.


What's the craic with their shields? They look like they're literally useless!

goldie fish

One of th eidiots wore the officers cap for the rest of the incident, and is all over Sky news doing same, along with other criminal damage.

Rialtas

It was nothing short of a miracle that no one was killed in this incident. The fire extinguisher missed those officers by inches.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=672214281001

Scarinae

The guy who threw the fire extinguisher is plastered all over the papers here (I'm in London)



Apparently bloggers have matched his face to facebook pictures, and have passed the information on to police. There are rumours that he may be charged with attempted murder.

Really bloody stupid thing to do, he could have killed someone.

If anything, footage of these protests make me think that the police need more funding

amacachi

Hope that's him, there was probably more than one fire extinguisher around though.

Rialtas

Rialtas wrote: »

It was nothing short of a miracle that no one was killed in this incident. The fire extinguisher missed those officers by inches.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=672214281001

This is much better footage of the event. The weirdest thing happens at 06:54 though - it looks like a uniform is having a go off a Public Order guy??

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=672280565001

Scarinae

amacachi wrote: »

Hope that's him, there was probably more than one fire extinguisher around though.

Oh I'd say that there was, that link that Rialtas put up actually shows another person on the roof setting off a fire extinguisher and using a lighter on the spray to make a sort of flamethrower... If the guy in the picture has been identified to police, and isn't the one who threw the extinguisher off the roof, I'd hope that whoever did would have the conscience to come forward and own up rather than letting someone else get scapegoated.

pah

Fishie wrote: »

Oh I'd say that there was, that link that Rialtas put up actually shows another person on the roof setting off a fire extinguisher and using a lighter on the spray to make a sort of flamethrower... If the guy in the picture has been identified to police, and isn't the one who threw the extinguisher off the roof, I'd hope that whoever did would have the conscience to come forward and own up rather than letting someone else get scapegoated.

you would hope :rolleyes:

not likely though

Rialtas

Rialtas wrote: »

The weirdest thing happens at 06:54 though - it looks like a uniform is having a go off a Public Order guy??

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=672280565001

That is a mad bit of footage, alright. Wonder what happened there. Seems a little crazy. Even tries to lift his visor up.

civdef

No delay with this one, 32 months for the extinguisher thrower (He won't have to worry about student fees for this year at least).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jan/11/student-fire-extinguisher-protests-jailed

meathstevie

The lad wasn't even a student....

WilcoOut

meathstevie wrote: »

The lad wasn't even a student....

good enough for the little gouger

outrageous thing to do

lehanemore

look at the head on that gentleman

goldie fish

meathstevie wrote: »

The lad wasn't even a student....

most student protestors aren't.

Hooch

goldie fish wrote: »

most violent trouble making langers arent student protestors

Corrected your post for you

goldie fish

nice guy always wrote: »

Corrected your post for you

You did, and you made absolute **** of it. Are you high? It doesnt make any sense now!